INDIANAPOLIS — As the days mounted, the anticipation followed suit. In the weeks and months that trailed her announcement that she would conclude her famed racing career at the Indianapolis 500, there were so many hours spent talking about what it would feel like to drive an Indy car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway one last time.

Will she be nervous? What will the anticipation be like? How different will an Indy car feel after seven years away? After all those years in NASCAR, what will it be like to drive 200-plus mph again? What will the emotions be upon returning to the place that helped launch her into superstardom?

All those questions. So many questions. Danica Patrick just wanted to get into the car and drive.

"I've been waiting to get this day over with for a long time," Patrick said with a smile after completing the veteran refresher program Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I say that with love. I wanted to get through this so I can get to the fun part, which is really running, making changes, making it faster, feeling really comfortable. Today was just a day of anticipation, a level of not knowing. ... It's been since Fall of last year thinking about, 'What the hell is it going to feel like? ' "

Now the day is done and the “not knowing” is over. Now she knows. Well, not everything. Not how she’ll perform come race day or even when she’ll truly feel comfortable behind the wheel of an Indy car again. But after Tuesday, when she passed her test and turned a quick lap of 218.5 mph, she now knows that the speed and comfort will come and that soon she'll be able to do the job she came to Indy to do.

But there's still a whole lot of work to do before then. Ahead of the test, Patrick had half-halfheartedly joked that she hoped wheeling an Indy car around IMS again would be like riding a bike. It wasn't.

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick waits in the garage area as changes are made to ger car during veteran refresher testing for the Indy 500 at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick waits in as changes are made to her car during veteran refresher testing for the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick waits in as changes are made to her car during veteran refresher testing for the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar

Patrick's day got off to a rocky start. After turning a lap, the Ed Carpenter Racing one-off driver immediately returned to her pit station because of a water temperature issue on her bright green No. 13 GoDaddy car. The team took the car back to the garage for repairs, which cost Patrick a little more than an hour of track time.

When she returned, Patrick spent the time both completing the test and getting re-acclimated to an Indy car. Among the biggest issues Patrick faced Tuesday was how heavy the wheel felt as she tried to steer.

"The car just felt very hard to drive," Patrick said. "The weight of the wheel was very heavy for me. I don't know what the heck I've been doing because I feel a lot stronger than when I was here before. You have to see the CrossFit videos. I crushed it like crazy. I can pick some weight up. But I did not feel very strong out there."

Eventually, the team made adjustments to the car that made it feel more comfortable for Patrick, but there's still a long way to go before it's where she wants it, Patrick said. That's OK, team owner Ed Carpenter said. That's to be expected this early in the process.

"No power steering (as there are in stock cars), different seating positions, things like that," Carpenter said. "Just getting re-acclimated to what these cars feel like at these speeds, that's what (Tuesday) is all about."

That's also what Wednesday will be about. Patrick returns to the track Wednesday as part of the manufacturer test day, where her hopes are simple: Gather information critical to running well at the 500 and keep getting more comfortable.

"I want (Wednesday) to be just a smooth day," said Patrick, who has six top-10 finishes at Indy. I want it to be a day with good information leading into two weeks from now where we really are going to have to get down to business."

Patrick was not only the veteran on track Tuesday to complete a refresher program. Dreyer and Reinbold’s Sage Karam and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Jay Howard passed their veteran refresher programs with little issue.

Earlier in the day, three rookies completed their own orientation programs. Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Matheus Leist knocked out the three phases with little issue, while SPM’s Robert Wickens endured a small hiccup before finishing his.

After completing the first phase of the program, Wickens’ No. 6 car suffered a gear box problem, and he had to borrow teammate James Hinchcliffe’s No. 5 machine to finish checking off the required boxes.

“The joke’s on him, because he wasn't even at the track when we switched cars,” Wickens said with a chuckle. “He had no idea. … But everyone at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is one team, one dream.

“We had to scramble a little bit to get James' car ready because it wasn't scheduled to be going on track, so we had to do some quick fixes and get everything ready to go.”

Once SPM did, though, Wickens completed the rest of the rookie program with no problem.

For former Indy Lights drivers Kaiser and Leist, the IMS oval is nothing new. Leist is the defending Freedom 100 champion, while Kaiser tackled the oval three times in his Lights career. Wickens, however, had never ventured out onto the legendary 2.5-mile paved track before Tuesday. The touring car veteran drove the IMS road course configuration once, but the oval, as well as the entire Indianapolis 500 experience, is foreign to him.

“I don't know what I've gotten myself into, to be honest,” Wickens said. “I never even attended the Indy 500 as a spectator before. It's just going to be an amazing month. Everyone always tells me June 1st, you roll out, you think, 'What the hell happened?' I mean, I'm just really looking forward to taking it all in.”

Pietro Fittipaldi is now the only rookie who still needs to complete orientation. The Dale Coyne Racing driver will attempt to do so May 15. His team opted to skip Tuesday and prepare for their upcoming test at Iowa.

Pole sitter and driver Alex Tagliani assures owner Sam Schmidt that everything will be alright before driver introductions for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Tagliani smacked the wall and had to leave the race on lap 148.
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IndyCar drivers Ryan Briscoe, in the 6 car, and Townsend Bell, in car number 99, crash in the first turn at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Indianapolis 500 race was ran May 29, 2011.
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Ed Carpenter's crew catches the rear wheel from the Will Power car after it came off coming out of the pits the Indianapolis 500, Sunday, May 29, 2011 at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Leading Indy 500 on the final lap, rookie J.R. Hildebrand, left, hits the wall coming out of Turn 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 2011. Eventual winner Dan Wheldon, enters the frame at right on his way to victory.
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Tony Kanaan puts his head on his car when getting out, after the 96th running of the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 27, 2012. Kanaan lead the race but was overtaken to lose to Dario Franchitti. He finished third.
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The car of Mike Conway flies over top of Will Power between turn one and two around lap 80 in a crash during the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, May 27, 2012.
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Ashley Judd, wife of Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti celebrates as she runs through the pits. Franchitti won the 96th running of the Indy 500 May 27, 2012.
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Driver J.R. Hildebrand backs his way into the wall in turn one just after the start of the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday, May 26 2013.
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The pit crew for Ryan Hunter-Reay stands around the car as fans view the cars before the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26, 2013, at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Michael Andretti ( left ) Tony Kanaan ( right ) embrace each other after their team won the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday May 26, 2013 at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Ryden Hunter-Reay decide he need to be in the photo during the Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay at the winning car photo shoot, Monday May 26, 2014 at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway
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Chairman of the Board Mari Hulman George and Jim Nabors show their excitement as drivers pass them at the start of the 98th Indianapolis 500 race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday, May 25, 2014.
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Debris from a three-car crash on Lap 176 of the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 flies into the air in turn 4 as the field heads down the straightaway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24, 2015. The crash involved Jack Hawksworth (hitting the wall), Sebastian Saavedra (yellow car at center of crash) and Stefano Coletti, who couldn't avoid contact. The crash, the last one in the race, left just 22 of the 33 cars still running at the end of the race, won by Juan Pablo Montoya.
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Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon (9) crew services the car during a pit stop on the 36th lap of the race during the 99th running of The Indianapolis 500, May 23, 2015, in Speedway, Ind.
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The crew of Juan Pablo Montoya celebrate his victory during the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday May 24, 2015. Juan Pablo Montoya won his second Indianapolis 500.
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Kids hold the Stars and Stripes at the entrance of turn one at the start of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, May 29, 2016, afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Lady Gaga greets one of the Pearl Harbor survivors before the start of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 Sunday, May 29, 2016, afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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IndyCar driver Takuma Sato crosses the finish line two-tenths of a second before driver Helio Castroneves, winning the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 28, 2017.
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